You Make Me Smile
by perrypurplepumpernikel
Summary: The buds of romance can be found in the strangest places - at a dog park, in front of a dead body, at a department store and, sometimes, right in front of our faces. All Human. Bella & Edward.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ****Twilight belongs to S. Meyer. **

**You may want to Google Image 'Great Dane' and 'Shar Pei' to understand the first section a little better. I mean, if you want to...**

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**_**Sometime in the future**_

"So, How did you two meet?"

"At a dog park," the man answered.

The woman nodded in agreement, smiling. "He yelled at the dog I was walking and called me a bitch."

"I didn't! No. I-it was a misunderstanding, that's all," the man said quickly and the woman laughed.

-o0o-

_**Present day**_

I tugged sharply on Satan's leash, leading him away from the fountain in the park as I cradled my Crackberry between my shoulder and ear, listening to my voicemail.

"Slowly Satan," I told the Great Dane who was tugging me along impatiently toward the dog area. "I kind of like my arm attached to my shoulder, thanks."

Saul, the dark grey Shar Pei, grunted in response as he hobbled on his stumpy legs trying to keep up with Satan's long strides.

The dog area came into view and I steered the three of us toward my usual spot at the bench underneath a large oak tree, but someone was already sitting there. The tree had a large grassy area underneath and the grass seemed dry enough, so I decided to sit at the base of the tree instead.

"All right, all right Satan," I muttered, making myself comfortable underneath the tree as Satan wriggled around in anticipation of being leash-free. I unclipped the leash from his collar and Satan bounded away, barking loudly at all the other dogs milling around.

"You want to play too, Saul?" I asked the other, better behaved dog and unclipped his leash from the collar as well. He made no move to follow Satan out with the other dogs and just sat next to me. Saul wasn't my dog–neighbor's a pilot who was away a lot of time, so I walked his dog as a favor–but I liked him. He was basically the opposite of Satan as he liked to keep to himself and was a little shy around other dogs.

Plus, he was cute. I liked squishing the rolls of skin around his face.

Saul plodded around me, his nose to the ground while I kept an eye on Satan to make sure he didn't get too overexcited.

"Hey! Stop that!" a loud voice said.

I looked to my left to see the man that had taken my spot, with Saul at his feet. Saul appeared to be sniffing around the man's shoes, which were very shiny and expensive looking.

The man stomped a foot on the ground, causing Saul to jump back slightly.

"Go away!" the man snapped at Saul and I bristled at the man's sharp tone.

"Saul! Come here boy," I ordered, whistling at him and patting my leg. Saul trotted over and the man huffed in annoyance as I gave him a quick once-over.

He seemed wholly out of place here in the dog park, dressed in his grey business suit with expensive looking shoes and sunglasses. Most of the dog owners here were dressed casually in sweat pants and t-shirts, myself included.

"He didn't mean any harm," I told the man, patting Saul. "Saul here wouldn't hurt a fly. Would you, buddy?"

I grinned at Saul, smooshing his face around vigorously, and then glanced back up at the man. His face appeared to have softened somewhat and he let out a small sigh.

"That was rude of me," the man said as I felt my phone vibrate in my bag, which was against my leg. "I shouldn't have snapped at your dog like that."

I didn't respond, noticing the message that I had just gotten was from work, and I opened it:

_Bella,_

_Emergency surgery at the clinic–car accident. If free, you're needed ASAP._

I began gathering my things quickly, snapping Saul's leash back onto his collar, and scrambled to stand up.

"I really am sorry," the man said, and I glanced at him to see that he looked a little taken aback by my abruptness in gathering my things. "I didn't mean to–"

"No it's fine," I interrupted impatiently, waving my hand in the air as I scanned the park in search of Satan. "Don't worry about it."

I finally spotted my dog and stuck my fingers in my mouth, wolf whistling loudly to get Satan's attention. He and his little Jack Russell friend stopped wrestling on the ground and Satan sprinted towards me.

"Sorry, Sato. But we gotta go," I muttered to Satan, who was whimpering in protest as I snapped his leash back on. "I'll buy you a super tasty bone later. Promise."

With that, I tugged on both Saul's and Satan's leashes and lead them quickly out of the park.

-o0o-

I had been going to the dog park every other day in the afternoon when I finished work. For a long time, it had always been Satan and I with Saul joining us on occasion. But now we had a new addition–Mr. Grumpy. That was the name I had given to the man who had snapped at Saul for sniffing his shoes.

I called him Mr. Grumpy because…well, it wasn't like he looked angry every time I saw him, but he gave off an indifferent, holier-than-thou vibe. He came to the dog park every Monday and Thursday and he would be there before I arrived at the park, sitting in his–previously _my_–usual spot on the bench and was still there when I left.

He didn't come dressed in a business suit anymore, but he did keep his sunglasses on at all times, obscuring most of his face. His usual attire was a baseball cap, t-shirt and jeans, paired with sneakers. The first time I saw Mr. Grumpy, I grinned when I noticed his choice in shoes. He glanced at me and I opened my mouth to make some sort of teasing comment about it, but he merely glanced away, giving me the cold shoulder.

It continued like that over the coming weeks, me and Mr. Grumpy no more than two feet apart but not saying a word to each other. I thought it was both strange and slightly impressive that he was able to sit for hours at a time without expressing any emotion–at all.

Today being the only exception. Today, I saw him smile. And it was a nice smile too.

The park was busier than usual and it took me a moment to realize that school was on break, with a lot of younger kids running around. It was Monday, and as usual, Mr. Grumpy was there on the bench. I took my new designated place underneath the tree and Satan decided to sit out on running and chasing the other dogs around, his head resting on my lap.

Out of nowhere, a Frisbee suddenly landed at my feet, startling Satan. He shot up to attention, sitting on his haunches as a young boy came running to retrieve his Frisbee.

"Here you go," I said, handing back the boy's Frisbee as he gawked, wide eyed, at Satan.

"Whoa, that's a big dog!" the boy exclaimed. Satan huffed at him and I stifled a laugh.

"He sure is. Satan's so big that even sitting down we're the same height. See?" I stated, moving my hand between my head and Satan's, which were at the same level.

"Satan?" the boy remarked, cringing away slightly. "That's a scary name."

"Yeah, but it's all for show. Satan's actually a big ol' softie," I replied and as if on cue, Satan gave the boy's face a big lick.

The boy laughed, pushing Satan's face away. "Ew, gross!"

He continued patting Satan for a moment, before he was called away by his friends.

"Thanks, miss. See ya, Satan!" the boy said, ruffling Satan's head before running back to his game.

I smiled at Satan and hugged him around the middle, pressing my cheek against his neck. This caused my gaze to be in Mr. Grumpy's direction. He was staring at Satan and me and that's when I noticed that he was smiling softly at us. He seemed to catch my stare and his smile dropped, returning to his cool façade as he turned his attention back in front of him.

I wanted to tell Mr. Grumpy that he should smile more. It suited him–from what I could see of his face, anyway.

-o0o-

"Dr. Swan?"

I glanced up at Heidi from the sink where I was washing my hands. "Yes?"

"Your next patient is in exam room 2," she told me.

"Thank you. I'll be there in a moment," I replied, and she nodded, closing the door behind her. I dried my hands, throwing the paper towel in the trash before walking out of the kitchen and making my way toward exam room 2.

I opened the door and gave a cursory glance and smile at the two people standing there.

"Good morning, I'm Dr. Swan. How are we today?" I asked and stood in front of the computer, reading the pet's chart.

"Fine. I think," a female voice answered and continued as I read. "It's my cat, Buttercup. I think she might have an ear infection."

"Ouch." I remarked sympathetically and turned around from the computer. "Let's take a look at this ear then."

I gently took the cat's head, tilting it so I could see in its ear, and finally glanced up at the man and woman. I blinked twice in surprise, staring for a beat too long at the man.

It was Mr. Grumpy.

He was staring at me too, and being this close to him with no more than arms length of distance between us, I noticed that he was disarmingly attractive. He had wide green eyes and unfairly long lashes that I hadn't noticed before, since he always wore sunglasses.

Mr. Grumpy tilted his head, eyes squinted slightly as he stared at me. "Do I know you?"

I realized what I was wearing and how different it was from what he was used to seeing at the dog park-my face sans makeup with glasses, my hair down and wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants and sneakers. At work, I preferred contacts, hair pulled up in a tight ponytail, my face covered in light make up, and I generally wore a blouse and skirt under my lab coat with shoes that had a slight heel.

"Uh, no. I don't think so," I replied, returning my attention back to the cat lying on the tabletop. Technically, my answer wasn't a lie–he didn't know me and I didn't know him.

I examined the cat, taking its temperature and asking routine questions that only the woman answered. The woman stroked the cat's stomach and I spotted an impressive diamond on the woman's left hand. I couldn't tell if Mr. Grumpy wore a matching ring as he kept his hands in the pocket of his jeans.

I finished up my examination and handed the woman antibiotic ear drops for the cat.

"So, two drops in the ear until the bottle is finished and that ear infection should clear right up," I told the woman and patted the cat's head. "You're a very well behaved cat, Buttercup. I wish all my patients were like you." The cat purred in response and I glanced up at the woman. "How long have you had her?"

"About four years." The woman answered and smiled at the cat. "She was a birthday gift from my husband a couple of years ago."

"Your husband has good taste," I replied, glancing at Mr. Grumpy as the woman placed the cat back into its carry case.

He shook his head quickly in response. "Uh, no. Esme isn't–I mean, we're not …we're just related. She's my cousin."

"Oh. Okay." I said with a nod. The cousin, Esme, glanced between Mr. Grumpy and me but said nothing.

"Thanks for your help, Dr. Swan," She said gratefully, picking up the carry case.

"You're welcome." I replied, opening the door to the waiting room for them, and Esme walked by me. "Heidi will give you the billing information and if things get worse with Buttercup's ear, be sure to come back."

I glanced back into the exam room and Mr. Grumpy was still standing there, regarding me with a thoughtful expression.

"Are you _sure_ we don't know each other?" he asked and my eyes flickered down to his shoes.

I smiled at him and nodded. "Yes. Quite sure."

"Right. Yeah, okay." he muttered and then walked out.

"By the way" I started and Mr. Grumpy looked back at me. I looked pointedly at his shoes, smirking. "Nice shoes."

He frowned, glancing down at his shoes then back at me. I felt slightly foolish about my joke and also a little saddened by him not understanding it.

"Let's go." Esme said, nudging Mr. Grumpy's arm.

She threw me a wave before walking out the front door of the clinic and Mr. Grumpy followed her. Just then, a dog in the waiting room vomited right on the spot where Mr. Grumpy's shiny, expensive shoes had just been two seconds before.

I considered the irony of that for a moment before stepping aside to let a disgruntled looking Heidi move toward the back to retrieve a mop and bucket to clean up the dog vomit.

-o0o-

"_Isabella Marie Swan."_

"Angela no middle name Weber," I said, mocking her angry tone and then snickered.

"_Care to explain why I woke up this morning to a voicemail from someone called Benjamin Cheney?"_

"Well, cell phones have this amazing, state of the art service called voicemail? It's like an answering machine, but for cell phones and-"

"_Bella!"_ Angela snapped, and I laughed. _"What did you do?"_

"Nothing! I didn't do anything," I assured her with a grin, leaning back against the bench of the dog park, dog watching as opposed to people watching. It was around lunchtime on a Wednesday and I had the day off.

Wednesdays also meant no Mr. Grumpy so I could take my old spot on the bench without worrying about him being here.

"_You're trying to set me and this Benjamin guy up, aren't you?"_ Angela questioned in a suspicious tone.

"Okay, yes I am. But-"

Angela groaned loudly, cutting me off. _"Oh, god! I've reached that desperate stage in life where my best friend gives out my number to random guys."_

"It's not desperate!" I insisted, sitting up straighter on the bench. "And he's not random. He's a new vet that started at the clinic two weeks ago and he's really sweet and nice and I think you two would really hit it off."

She didn't answer, but I could tell she was still there.

"Are you mad at me?"

"_Yes,"_ Angela replied shortly, and sighed. _"Is he cute at least?"_

I grinned, feeling triumphant. "Very. He's exactly your type Ange."

"_So he looks like Colin Farrell then?"_

"Uh…well, he could be Colin Farrell's distant, Asian cousin from Colorado?"

"_Okay, so pretty much the same."_ Angela said, and we both laughed. _"I gotta go. My lunch break's over."_

"All right. How about I come over later tonight?" I suggested. "I could make those vanilla cupcakes with strawberry icing that you really like."

"_Nobody likes a kiss-ass Bella,"_ Angela remarked flatly, causing me to laugh. "_But yeah, do that. Although you owe me a lot more than cupcakes."_

"I know."

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I smiled to myself, shaking my head as I placed my phone back into my bag.

"So, you're a vet."

"Gahh!" I cried out, startled and nearly falling off the side of the bench in shock.

Mr. Grumpy widened his eyes, sitting next right next to me on the bench. "Shit. Sorry-"

"What's the matter with you?" I exclaimed incredulously, my voice higher in pitch than usual. "Don't do that! And how the heck are you so silent?"

"I–I thought you heard me sit down," He stammered and looked a little freaked out. "You were on the phone and I didn't want to disturb you."

"Well, stomp your feet around a little next time. Okay?" I muttered, trying to calm my frazzled nerves.

"Okay," he echoed, giving me a tentative smile. I returned it and then realized I was again staring at him for too long, so I turned to face forward once more.

I was trying to come up with something to say, when Mr. Grumpy spoke first.

"Why did you say you didn't know me when I saw you at the clinic?" he asked and I smiled at his question.

"Because I _don't_ know you," I replied in amusement.

"Oh. Right," he said sheepishly. "Well, I'm Edward."

I glanced at him. "Hello Edward."

"Hi…uh, Isabella, right?" he questioned. "Your name was on the plaque at the clinic."

I nodded and then realized something.

"It's Wednesday. "

"Uh, yeah. It's usually the day that comes after Tuesday," Mr. Grumpy–sorry, _Edward_-said slowly.

"You're never here on a Wednesday," I clarified. "You come on Mondays and Thursdays. Not Wednesdays."

Edward looked surprised. "Oh. I hadn't realized you noticed-"

"Oh course I noticed. You took my spot," I interjected, patting the bench space that was between us, and then smiled at him to let him know that I was teasing.

"I don't take up the entire bench space," Edward said. "I like to think this bench is big enough for the two of us."

He said it with such a straight face that I couldn't help cracking up. He actually seemed kind of nice and not grumpy at all.

"You're very nice," I declared, voicing my thoughts.

"And you're very pretty," Edward replied straight away. I stared at him, feeling my face warm up. "Sorry. I thought were just trading compliments with each other."

I smiled, shaking my head, and willed my face to cool down. "It's just that you've been coming here for about a month now and you've never spoken before. Not unless you count yelling at my dog as talking."

It was Edward's turn to go red, his cheeks flushing slightly. "Yeah…to be honest, I kinda thought you were being a bitch."

"Excuse me?"

"No! I mean - you're not a bitch." Edward said, beginning to talk fast. "That day when I got angry at your dog and tried to apologize, you just grabbed your things and left."

I stared dubiously at him. "And that makes me a bitch _how_?"

"I thought you were doing that thing when girls pretend to get a text to get out of something. You know, fake text and dash?"

I thought back to that day and tried to picture it from Edward's point of view–me receiving a text as he was apologizing, then grabbing my things and leaving very abruptly.

"Oh…" I said quietly and then glanced at Edward. "Yeah, I see what you mean. But it's not what you think–I really did get an emergency text from work and had to leave."

"I know that now," Edward said, giving me a small smile. "After figuring out who you were after that day in the clinic, I guessed that your text was something animal related."

I returned his smile. "So you _did_ get my shoe joke."

Edward chuckled lightly. "Not at first. It wasn't until I got home and started taking off my shoes that I realized who you were and what you meant."

We fell silent then, both of us facing forward. With it being the middle of a workday, the dog area was relatively empty and I spotted Satan chasing a squirrel around and around a tree. I laughed and Edward glanced at where I was staring.

"How long have you had him?" Edward asked.

"A couple of years. I was walking past a pet shop one day, saw him in the front window and it was love at first sight," I joked, and Edward laughed. "Have you ever owned a dog before?"

Edward sighed and ran his hands against his jeans, leaning forward. "Sort of. I bought a Golden Retriever for my girlfriend–ex girlfriend, I mean." He corrected quickly. "And we used to come here on Sundays."

He paused, clearing his throat. "And then, uh, karma decided to bite me in the ass. The day after I broke up with her, I got laid off at work and then I was evicted from my apartment the day after that."

"Yikes," I remarked with a grimace. "Karma really is a bitch."

"I came here that day, just to get away from it all, and was in a bad mood when your dog came up to me," Edward continued and then looked embarrassed. "So I yelled, taking out my anger on him. Again, I'm really sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it," I assured him. "Has it been tough being unemployed?"

"I guess," Edward replied with a shrug. "I had to move in with my cousin, Esme and her husband–that's Buttercup's owners-and I have a couple of job interviews lined up next week."

"That's great," I said encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

Edward smiled at me. "Thanks, Isabella."

"Bella," I corrected.

"Bella," he repeated, his smile widening to show his teeth. "Okay."

I ducked my head, feeling my face heat up again, and caught the time on my watch. It wasn't late, but I had been at the park for a while now.

"I should probably get going," I declared and stood up from the bench, hoisting my bag over my shoulder. "If Satan gets overtired, he tends to slobber all over my bed when he's asleep."

"That's a nice visual," Edward declared, standing up from the bench as well. I laughed before whistling for Satan.

"Satan! Time to go boy," I called out, and Satan bounded out of a round bush, running toward us.

"Hey, buddy. Did you have a great time chasing that squirrel?" I asked Satan as I knelt down to clip his leash on. He had some leaves and twigs stuck in the collar and I began picking them out.

"So, um…are you busy right now?" Edward asked, and I glanced up to see him looking a little flustered.

"No, not really," I replied, taking out the last twig and then stood up straight. "Why?"

"Do you maybe want to get a coffee or something?" Edward asked in a rush and then exhaled.

I smiled and then shook my head. "I don't drink coffee."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really," I answered and he looked disappointed. I bit my lip, wrapping Satan's leash around my hand. "I do eat, though. There's this deli around the corner that serves really great sandwiches, if you want to grab something to eat?"

Edward smiled, nodding. "I could eat."

"Great," I replied. We began walking side by side and Satan began sniffing cautiously around Edward's shoes.

"Hey! Careful," Edward snapped, glaring at Satan and took a step to the side to avoid his reach. "These shoes are brand new; I just bought them."

I stared in disbelief at him and was about to make up some excuse to back out of lunch when Edward glanced at me and grinned.

"Just kidding," he said, and I just shook my head at him.

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**A/N: ****So, here's how this fic/story will work -**

**Basically it's just different scenarios based on Edward and Bella's first meetings. The scenarios will go for one chapter only, each chapter being a different scenario, setting, etc but will always end up with Bella and Edward together at the end.**

**I have a lot of 'plot bunnies' swirling around in my head and this is just a way for me to get them out.  
**

**Leave a review and I'll send you a small teaser for the next story.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: 'Verizon' is an American phone/Internet company.**

**Special thanks to** GraffitiDreamz** for making this so much better.**

**A/N: ****Twilight belongs to S. Meyer. **

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* * *

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_**Sometime in the future**_

"So. How did you two meet?"

The woman groaned at the question, covering her face with her hand as the man just looked amused.

"I hate telling this story," the woman muttered, face still covered.

"I like it," the man said cheerfully with a grin.

"Of course you like it," the woman sighed, dropping her hand to her lap. "You were the nice guy in the story and I'm the one that gets called out for being such a bitch."

"That's because you _were_ a bitch," the man emphasized with a smirk and then his face softened, kissing the woman's cheek. "Not anymore though."

-o0o-

_**Present day**_

"All right, so how many lights are flashing on the modem now?"

"Three. The power button light, ADSL and the Ethernet one."

"Okay Tanya. That's a good sign," I assured her, clicking 'yes' on my own computer screen and then I read the next instructions that popped up. "Now, just restart the computer and your Internet should be up and running again."

"Thank god," she sighed, exhaling heavily into the phone. I cringed at the loudness of it, adjusting my headset. I heard faint beeping on her end, assumedly Tanya restarting her computer.

"What did you say your name was again?" Tanya asked suddenly, catching me off guard.

"Uh, it's Edward."

"Well, Edward. For an Indian, you have a very good American accent," she told me and I frowned, confused by what she meant.

"Um…I'm not Indian," I remarked slowly. "I'm from Chicago."

"Oh, okay. My mistake," Tanya replied briskly. "I thought, you know how major companies outsource their workers to India and train them to speak with American accents and all that."

"Well, I can assure you that Verizon's technical support centre is very much based here in Chicago." I told her, looking at the typical blustery weather outside the window across the room.

"Oh yea? Prove it." Tanya demanded.

My eyes widened and I glanced hesitantly around me. "Um…"

Tanya giggled. "I'm kidding Edward. I believe you."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair in relief. My hand got caught on my headset, lifting it off my ear for a moment and I fumbled, trying to set it back on my head. By the time I had positioned back in place, I caught the tail end of whatever Tanya was saying.

"…working fine. Thank you so much Edward." she said sincerely. "Now I can go back to stalking people's profiles on Facebook for my next victim to kill!"

"Oh, uh. Okay," I stammered and Tanya giggled again.

"I'm kidding Edward…maybe," she said seriously and I grimaced, before she laughed again. "No, really. I am kidding. Okay, I'm gonna that stop now and get back to working on making up for that one hour of internet time I lost. Thanks again Edward!"

She hung up before I could get out my conclusion spiel that thanked the customer for calling, my name in case they needed to reference the call to my supervisor, etc etc.

I pulled the headset off my head and leaned back in my seat, glancing across the room and stared out the window. A hand suddenly came down on my shoulder and I startled, knocking my elbow hard against the table.

"Ow, dammit," I hissed, clutching my arm and glanced up to see my amused co-worker, Angela.

"Sorry dude." she said with a chuckle, setting her motorcycle helmet on the desk.

Angela was about five or six years older than me and was (for lack of a better word) quite scary. Her jet black hair was cropped into a short bob with tattoos covering almost every inch of skin on both her arms. She had those stretchy-lobe piercings in her ears, black plugs adorned with skulls. Every time I was close to her, I had to resist the urge to jab my pinkie through one of them, just to see how it would feel.

She was nice...well, as long as you didn't get on her bad side. She once yelled at a 16 year old work experience boy for not bringing the right sandwich to her. Something about ripping his head off and using it as a napkin, I think.

I glanced at the clock on my computer screen and was surprised to see it was the end of my shift, which meant Angela would be taking over my for the night shift. I stood up, moving to the side to make room for Angela as she emptied the pockets of her heavy leather jacket, throwing a packet of cigarettes on the table.

"Did you know that women account for 39 percent of all smoking deaths?" I informed her.

"Wait. Hold the phone," Angela remarked, staring at me with wide eyes. "Smoking is bad for you? That is brand new information!"

I rolled my eyes at her as I started putting my coat and scarf on to battle the wind outside. This was sort of our thing, I would try to convince Angela that smoking was bad and she would come back at me with a snarky retort.

"Got any plans for the weekend?" Angela asked me, eyeing the duffel bag that I had just picked up from under the table.

I shrugged, putting my beanie on. "Kinda. My brother Emmett is bringing his girlfriend home tonight to meet the family. They live an hour's train ride away, so I'm going to spend the night and take advantage of the how quiet it is up there to work on my thesis."

"Exciting," Angela remarked dryly as the computer screen lit up with a new call and she hurriedly put on her headset.

"Hello, Verizon technical support. My name is Angela, how can I help you?" Angela said, propping her feet onto the table and she nodded to me as I waved a silent goodbye to her.

Exiting the building, I made my way to the café across the street and ordered a coffee in the largest takeaway cup they had. As I waited for my double shot espresso, a girl sidled up next to me, in conversation with someone on her cell phone as she waited for her own order.

I blinked, just to make sure she was real. It was like seeing the object of my fantasies in the flesh and I unabashedly stared at her.

She had long, sleek dark brown hair that tumbled halfway down her back and had the texture and shine of spun silk. Her chocolate eyes were capped with arched eyebrows that made her look as if she always had a secret. Her nose was a razor straight line that divided her high cheekbones and angular face to perfection. The person she was on the phone to must have said something to amuse her, because a wide smile was formed by her full, pink lips showing flawless white teeth.

Most guys are either an ass man or a boob's man but I was a legs man.

Despite the blustery, cold weather outside, the girl wore a denim skirt that reached just above her knees. She had the powerful legs of an athlete with well-defined calves and slender ankles.

My eyes traveled from her legs back up to her face, only to realize that she had finished her phone call. I froze, most likely looking like a deer caught in headlights as she glared at me, eyes flashing in anger.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She snapped and I just stood there, mortified that I had been caught.

She reached between us, snatching a packet of sugar and a stirrer and muttered "freak" as she walked by me, out the door.

As soon as the door shut behind her, I literally face palmed myself and winced the amount of force I had put into it.

"Idiot, dumbass, loser," I berated under my breath, as my coffee was placed in front of me. "You really _are_ a freak."

-o0o-

I pushed my peas around my plate, unable to get the image of the girl out of my head, the one of her smiling. Not her angry glare and the harshness of her voice when she snapped at me.

I vaguely wondered what her name was, trying to match her with every girls name I knew in my head. Was she a Victoria or a Kate? Or perhaps her name was something exotic like, Zafrina or Mekenna? Or maybe she had a perfectly common name like Jessica or Lauren.

"Edward...Edward?"

I glanced up from my plate to see everyone at the dining table staring at me.

"Sorry, what?" I said and sat up straighter in my seat, trying to think of what everyone had been talking about before I zoned out.

"Rosalie was asking you a question, dear." My mother told me, taking a sip of her wine and raising her eyebrows at my rude behavior.

I looked across the table at Rosalie who gave me a small smile.

"Emmett's told me about how smart you are." She said interestedly. "With graduating high school when you were 15 and now you're doing your master's in Software Engineering all while working at Verizon – that's amazing for a 22 year old."

I nodded, still distracted by my thoughts. "Yeah,"

Rosalie blinked twice and I noticed Emmett giving me a strange look from beside her.

"Do you um, like studying Software Engineering?" Rosalie prompted hesitantly.

"Yeah. It's good."

She nodded, glancing back down at her plate and Emmett gave me a 'what the hell?' look. Even my parents glanced at me weirdly from their ends of the table.

I went back to staring at my plate, still ticking off names in my head.

Charlotte…Jane…Samantha…Stephanie…

After dinner, I dropped my plates off in the kitchen and drifted upstairs to my old room. I unpacked my laptop, notes and books from my messenger bag onto my desk when Emmett appeared in the doorway.

"Mom wants to know if you want ice cream with your apple strudel."

I shook my head. "No, nothing. I'm fine."

"He doesn't want any, Ma!" Emmett shouted over his shoulder.

"Does he want tea or coffee?" our mother called back.

"No, he doesn't!" I yelled.

"Are you sure Edward?"

I rolled my eyes. "Ma! I'm fine."

"So, what's up?" Emmett asked, wandering into my room.

"Nothing much," I replied distractedly, trying to connect to the wifi on my laptop. "Rosalie seems nice."

"Thanks. I meant at dinner though," Emmett said and I looked up to see him handling something from my bookcase.

"Don't touch that," I snapped. He rolled his eyes at me, putting the limited edition 'Star Wars Wampa Plush Doll' back on the shelf with exaggerated slowness.

"What was I doing at dinner?" I prompted him.

"Nothing," Emmett stated. "Which is weird, because you never do nothing? You're always geeking out about stuff. I think one time you spent about 45 minutes talking about PC vs. Mac, Edward," he emphasized.

"Yeah, well. I have a lot on my mind tonight." I muttered, turning back to my laptop again.

"Yeah? Like what?"

I shrugged, not looking at Emmett. "A girl."

Emmett let out a laugh, but sobered up when he saw my face. "Oh, your serious….excuse me for a sec."

I watched him cautiously as he moved to the doors of my balcony and stepped outside.

"ATTENTION, PEOPLE OF CHICAGO!" Emmett started shouting over the balcony ledge and I bolted outside. "EDWARD CULLEN IS NOT GAY! I REPEAT-EDWARD CULLEN IS NOT..."

"You are such a dumbass," I hissed and tried to throw a punch at him, but Emmett dodged it lithely with a laugh.

"Boys!" our mom called up from downstairs. "What's going on up there?"

"Nothing!" Emmett and I shouted back at the same time. We glanced at each other and laughed at ourselves, before going back into my room.

"So, you met a girl huh?" Emmett remarked with a smirk.

"Kind of," I mumbled, scrubbing a hand over my face. "There was this girl at the coffee shop earlier..."

"You didn't stare did you?" Emmett interjected, looking wary.

"No!" I lied straight away and then shrugged my shoulders. "…not really."

Emmett groaned. "Why do you always stare, Edward? It creeps people out, seriously."

"What? I do not always stare!"

"What about Katie Bostic when we were younger? You stared at her all the time."

"I was ten years old!" I retorted indignantly. "She was the first girl in our grade to get boobs! I wasn't the only one that stared."

"Oh, yea..." Emmett mused and then paused for a moment, his eyes unfocused before shaking himself out of it. "Anyway. What are you going to do about the girl?"

"Dunno." I said, shrugging. "Probably just apologize when I see her. If I see her."

"Good idea." Emmett replied and then he slapped me on the back with more force then necessary, causing me to stumble. "Cool. Good talking to you bro."

I rolled my eyes at him, but smiled. "Yeah, you too Emmett."

"Now, come downstairs and act like your usual geeky self. It'll make you feel better," Emmett remarked and then smirked at me. "Just don't stare at my girlfriend, okay?"

I scowled at him. "You're a dumbass."

-o0o-

Over the next couple of days, I went into that coffee shop whenever I was at Verizon. I didn't even like coffee that much, but I couldn't get her legs out of my head.

That's kinda creepy. Emmett was right, maybe I am creepy. I should probably focus on her face or something more normal.

"Heya," a voice said and I looked up to see Angela with her arms folded on top of the wall of my makeshift cube.

"Hey Angela," I greeted.

"A package came for you." she declared and then tossed me a rectangular parcel. I wasn't prepared, catching it awkwardly with the ends of my fingers and I fumbled with it before it fell on the ground.

"You okay?" Angela asked, snickering at me.

"Yeah," I sighed and picked up the package, placing it carefully on my desk.

"I'm off for a smoke break and to get a coffee from that café across the road. Tell the boss in case he comes looking for me, okay?" Angela said and then turned to walk away.

"Wait!" I said quickly and she stopped, glancing back at me. "Um…I'll come too. I could use a break."

Angela shrugged. "Sure. Whatever,"

"Sure you don't want anything?" she asked me fifteen minutes later, as we sat outside the café.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I replied with a sigh. She wasn't here. I looked.

Angela lit a cigarette and tossed the lighter and packet on the table near her coffee, exhaling over her shoulder.

"Did you know that smoking costs the United States over 150 billion dollars annually in health care costs?" I stated automatically and she just took another drag of her cigarette.

"Dude. What did I tell you about you and your made up smoking statistics?" Angela remarked flatly, exhaling rather rudely in my face.

I grimaced, waving away the smoke with my hand. "They're not made up..."

"Excuse me," someone interrupted and Angela and I looked up to see a girl standing there with her hand on a spare chair at our table. "Is anyone using this chair?"

"No, you can take it." Angela replied. The girl nodded her thanks, picking up the chair and walked away with it.

My eyes followed the girl with the chair and I tried to reason with Angela. "I'm just saying, that you shouldn't smoke and…"

I trailed off when I saw the girl sit down at a table opposite us, with another girl already sitting there. It was her, Hot Legs.

"And what Edward?" Angela prompted me, but I didn't answer, still watching her at the table. Angela's eyes followed my gaze, glancing between us.

"Do you know that girl?"

I shook my head. "Uh, no."

"Oh. Probably just as well anyway, she's such a bitch."

I glanced quickly at Angela and she looked slightly disgruntled, taking another drag of her smoke. "What?"

Angela shrugged. "She works at Macy's two blocks over. I went in there the other day and she was giving me attitude the entire time. All cocky and shit. I was so pissed off at her bad service. It ruined my whole day."

"Maybe she was having a bad day or something." I mumbled and Angela made a scoffing sound, tapping her smoke on the provided ashtray. "Do you know her name?"

"Nope. But that other girl at the table, they work together and I'm pretty sure her name's Bree."

"I did something stupid last week to her," I muttered, fiddling with Angela's lighter.

"Bree?"

"No, the other girl,"

"Like what?" Angela questioned slowly.

I explained what happened and to her credit, Angela didn't laugh or make any snide comments like I expected her too. When I finished, she just nodded and looked thoughtful.

"Okay, can I give you some advice?" Angela asked.

"Sure."

"Well, to start off with you should probably stop staring at her. It's kinda creepy." Angela said with a chuckle, stubbing out her smoke on the ashtray. I felt my face heat up and I dropped my gaze to the table. "Two, when you go over to apologize, you should say something to her like, I lost my phone number, could I borrow yours?"

I stared at Angela. "Why would I tell her that I've lost my number?"

"It's called a pick up line," Angela remarked in an obvious tone and I rolled my eyes, trying to sneak a glance at Hot Legs again. "You use it on someone that you like, which you most obviously do since you can't stop staring. Seriously, stop that!"

"Sorry," I muttered, ducking my head. "I don't know, Angela. It sounds kinda stupid."

"What have you got to lose?" Angela said, leaning forward towards me. "She'll either think the line is cute and cheesy and give you her number, or she'll show her true, bitchy colors by shooting you down, ending up in a fail of epic proportions."

"Oh, cool. I'm totally using that pick up line now," I remarked sarcastically.

"Come on! Do it!" Angela demanded with a laugh, kicking my chair. "Your cute, the line's cute and it'll work…at least I think it will."

I stared at Angela and she began bouncing slightly in her chair, chanting "Dooo it. Dooo it. Dooo it" under her breath, grinning at me.

I sighed heavily. "Fine. Okay, I'll do it."

"Yes!" Angela exclaimed, fist pumping and then gestured a hand wildly at me. "Now, take off your beanie and your jacket. Then untuck your shirt and roll up the sleeves to your elbow. You're what, 20 years old?"

"22" I corrected, doing as she instructed.

"Then what do you dress like a forty year old guy for?" Angela said, snickering at me.

"I do not." I muttered, taking off my beanie and running a hand through my hair.

"Do too," Angela replied dismissively and then glanced at the girls' table. "Oh, quick! She's leaving!"

I glanced up to see Hot Legs and her friend Bree, standing up from their chairs and moving away from their table.

"Go!" Angela repeated and kicked my chair again, causing me to nearly topple over.

I don't, instead getting up and pushing past the people on the sidewalk towards them in a hurry. Bree and Hot Legs are at the end of the street near the traffic lights before I reach them.

"Hi," I remarked, slightly out breath from trying to catch up with them.

"Uh, hello," Hot Legs replied, looking at me strangely and then her expression changed to recognition mixed with annoyance. "Oh, its you. Come for that picture have you?"

I shook my head, ignoring the people who now had to walk around us and the slight nausea feeling in my stomach. "No. I just…wanted to apologize for the way I acted the other day."

"Oh." Hot Legs said and blinked at me. Her friend, Bree glanced between us, looking curious. "Well, okay. Apology accepted."

She moved around me, walking away without another glance and Bree gave me a reassuring smile before following after her and I remember Angela's stupid pick up line.

"Wait!" I blurted out and walked in front of them again, holding up my hand in a 'stop' motion.

"What now?" Hot Legs demanded in exasperation, rolling her eyes at me.

"I-I've lost something." I stammered.

"Like what?" Hot Legs replied flatly, looking bored.

"My phone number. Could I borrow yours?"

She just gave me a wary look in response, but Bree let out a small giggle.

"Aww, so cute," She cooed softly, looking at Hot Legs with a grin and nudged her arm.

"Does that line work on anybody?" Hot Legs asked in an irate tone, ignoring her friend and she shook her head. "You don't even know my name."

I faltered at this but then an idea came to me and I smiled. "It's Bree."

"Wrong!" her friend piped up and then pointed to herself. "I'm Bree. Her name's Bella."

Bella shot a glare at her friend and Bree widened her eyes in response.

"What? He had our names mixed up," Bree informed her innocently and shrugged.

Bella huffed and then glanced back at me, still annoyed. "What's your name anyway?"

"It's Edward." I answered and she looked me up and down, with raised eyebrows.

"Of course it is," Bella remarked coolly and then she softened, letting out a small sigh. "That line was pretty cheesy…in a cute kinda way."

She smiled at me and I grinned stupidly back at her, feeling a little slap happy that Angela's pick up line actually worked.

"Here!" Bree declared and pushed a piece of paper and a pen into Bella's hand. "You can write your number down on that."

Bella let out a chuckle and started writing, her friend giving me an excited grin.

"Here," Bella said, handing me the paper and smiled at me. "See you later Edward."

"Yeah. Bye." I replied dazedly, taking the paper off her.

They walked away, with Bree waving cheerfully at me. "Bye Edward!"

I made my way back to Angela at the café, still in disbelief that I had actually gotten a girls number by using a pick up line. Angela had her phone out, still in the same place at the table and she glanced up at me as I sank back into a chair.

"Well?" Angela demanded, pocketing her phone and looking expectantly at me. "How'd it go?"

I didn't answer and just held up the piece of paper Bella gave me. Angela grinned, snatching it from me.

"See, I told you the line was cute!" Angela remarked and opened the paper, reading it. "Bella Swan. Cute na-"

She cut off abruptly, frowning at the paper.

"What?" I questioned, leaning over toward her. "What's wrong?"

"This is the number she gave you?" Angela asked me sharply.

"Um yeah," I replied in confusion. "Why?"

"Because she fake numbered you!" Angela burst out angrily, showing me what Bella had written and my stomach dropped as I recognized the numbers.

"Great," I muttered dejectedly, slumping down in my seat.

"This is so juvenile!" Angela seethed, curling her hand into a fist. "What, is she in high school or something? Who does she think she is giving you a fake number?"

"Angela. Just forget about it, okay?" I told her, standing up from the table. "I think I'm going to head back to work. I'll see you later."

"Yeah okay," Angela said, waving her hand at me. "You go ahead. I'm going to give this 'Bella Swan' a piece of my mind."

She got up as well, stomping away angrily and then I registered what she meant.

"Wait, Angela!" I called out, rushing after her.

The woman walked fast, I'll give her that. I didn't catch up to her until she was at inside the Macy's building two streets over.

"Angela, stop." I panted, finally able to catch my breath as we rode up on the escalator. "Just forget about this. It's not that big a deal, really."

"It is a big deal, Edward!" Angela snapped, looking determined. "She can't just go around giving perfectly nice, sweet guys like you fake numbers! Why couldn't she have told you, 'no thanks. I'm not interested'? Huh? _Huh?_ Why?"

"I-I don't know," I replied quickly.

"Yeah, well. I'm going to find out." Angela said, looking around her. We had stepped off in the beauty section, surrounded by various perfume and makeup counters. I spotted Bella behind one counter, as did Angela who stalked her way toward her.

"Hi!" Angela greeted Bella with an overly sweet smile and I grimaced, watching from a few feet away.

"Hello, can I help you?" Bella asked politely.

"You sure can!" Angela chirped at her. "See, you gave my friend your number and I was just wondering-" she paused, slapping a hand down on the counter and glared at Bella. "-how _stupid_ do you think we are?"

Bella looked taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"_8675 309_?" Angela read out from the paper Bella had given me and then reached over, flicking Bella's name tag. "Seriously? Your name's not even Jenny! I'm pretty sure 'Jenny's' are the only people allowed to use this number!"

"What's going on?"

I looked to my side to see Bree, standing next to me with wide eyes as she watched Angela rip Bella a new one.

"Bella gave me a fake number, but you probably already knew that," I added bitterly.

"What? No, I didn't," Bree told me, shaking my head. "I promise. Why would Bella do that?"

I just shrugged at her and then glanced back at Bella and Angela, who was still yelling and had now progressed to calling Bella names. Other customers around them were starting to stare.

"You know what? It's your loss for not wanting to know Edward anyway," Angela says with Bella looking a little fearful. "I hope karma bites you in the ass you stupid, ska-"

"She's disturbing the customers," Bree said anxiously, looking around her. "I'm going to have to call security."

"No. Please, don't do that. We'll just leave," I told Bree and then hurriedly made my way toward Angela.

"Edward didn't even want to say anything to you, that's how much of a nice guy he is-"

"Angela. We gotta go," I hissed impatiently, cutting her off mid rant and Bella glanced at me with wide eyes, but I ignored her.

"Fine," Angela huffed and then proceeded to knock over the display of perfumes on the counter. "Oops! My bad!"

I groaned under my breath and grabbed her elbow, pulling Angela away. "_Jesus_. Come on, before they call security."

She let me pull her away down the escalators until we stood outside and she wrenched her arm out of my grasp. Angela closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, before opening them again.

"I feel a lot better after doing that," she informed me, looking calm and serene, which was kinda freaky after the way she had just acted. "Although, you would feel a lot better if it had been you."

"I seriously doubt my voice could've reached the level's yours did," I replied and she made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat, taking her packet of cigarettes from her jacket.

I waited until she was distracted with finding her lighter before I reached over and grabbed the packet from her hands, throwing it onto the busy road beside us.

Angela's mouth fell open, the smoke that she had between her lips comically falling on the sidewalk as we watched a bus run over her packet of cigarettes.

"I do feel a little better now," I declared, grinning at her and Angela just scowled at me.

-o0o-

"Dixon, Dixon, Dixon," I murmured, scanning the bookshelf in the library of Northwestern. I finally spotted the book I wanted, pulling it off the shelf and began reading the blurb on the back.

I sat back down at my table and was so immersed in reading that I hadn't noticed somebody sitting across from me.

"Hi."

Startled, my knee jerked up beneath of the table, hitting the desk with a 'thud'.

"_Fuck!_" I hissed in pain, rubbing a hand over my knee with a grimace.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry," Bella said quickly, looking stricken. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I told her with a groan and then stared at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh. Well, I'm working on this essay for one of my classes and I needed this book which they don't have in my college library and my friend Alice goes here, so I thought I'd use her student ID and photocopy the pages I needed from the book and-"

"I didn't ask for your life story," I interjected warily.

After that day of Bella giving me a fake number, I forced myself to just forget about it and her and women until I was done with school (which amused Angela very much when I had told her). Although, this was proving hard to do since Bella was sitting across from me looking just as good as the first day I saw her.

"Right," Bella remarked sheepishly and shifted in her seat, playing with a thick book she was resting her folded arms on. "My friend Bree thinks that it was really rude of me to give you a fake number and that I should apologize to you."

"Oh really, and what do _you_ think?" I remarked sarcastically.

"I think that she's right," Bella said tentatively and stopped playing with her book to look up at me. "I'm sorry for giving you a fake number."

I searched Bella's face, still feeling miffed at what she had done…but she did seem genuinely sorry and I felt my resolve slipping.

"It's okay." I told her with a sigh.

"I don't even know why I did it," Bella blurted out, letting out a shaky chuckle. "I knew it was wrong, because you seemed really nice and sweet and I thought it would be funny to just give you that number instead of mine-"

"But it _wasn't_ funny," I emphasized gravely. "It was actually kinda mean,"

"Yeah. I know that now," Bella said with a grimace. "Your friend practically ripped my head off about it…not that I didn't deserve everything she said to me."

I agreed with that, but it seemed rude to acknowledge it, so I just nodded slightly in response.

"So, I was wondering…" Bella began slowly, looking apprehensive. "If I could make it up to you somehow? Maybe buy you a cup of coffee or something?"

As much as I wanted to say yes, I wasn't sure if that was a great idea and I tried to think of a way to put that across. "I don't know. I don't really think..."

"Here," Bella declared and grabbed my cell phone that was sitting on the table. I watched as she typed away on the keypad before holding it up and pressing the 'call' button.

"See? It's my proper number this time," she told me with a small smile, showing me her own phone that had my number flashing on the screen.

She placed it back down on the table and I took a breath, not knowing what to say. "Um…thanks?"

Bella nodded, her eyes falling back down on her book and an awkward silence fell between us.

"I should probably go," Bella declared quietly, rubbing the side of her neck.

"Okay," I said and she stood up, placing her book back in her messenger bag and I caught the name on the cover.

"That's a computer science book," I pointed out, my eyebrows knitting together in confusion. I knew because the books for that section were in the same aisle in the library as the software engineering books.

Bella let out a chuckle, looking flustered as she placed the bag over her shoulder. "Yeah, it's the major I'm studying at DePaul. I'm kind of a geek when it comes to all things computers,"

I just stared up her and Bella pulled her lip between her teeth, playing with it before she threw me a wave.

"See ya Edward,"

"Bye," I murmured and then glanced down at my textbook, but not really reading the words.

The desk I was sitting at faced the front entrance of the library from two floors above and when I glanced up again, I could see Bella walking with her back to me across campus.

I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the contacts, seeing a 'Bella Swan' added to the list. I sighed, running a hand through my hair and tugged at it.

"Angela's going to _kill_ me," I muttered as I pressed the 'call' button and squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for her to answer.

_"Hello?"_

"Do you want to go to dinner Saturday?" I asked in a rush and there wasn't even a pause before she gave an answer.

_"Yes, I would love to,"_ she said. I opened my eyes and even from here, I could see Bella's wide smile.

* * *

**A/N: _'8675 309'_ is a song from the 1980's by Tommy Tutone. **

**I suggest looking it up on YouTube-it's pretty catchy, in that 'cheesy, 80's' kind of way :)**

**Thank you for reading and if you do, reviewing. It's really appreciated. **

**Like last time, I'll send a teaser your way if you review.**


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